1. Terra Nullius byTimothy Sullivan tsulliva@gsd.harvard.edu

Research Theme's Short Abstract (250 words) :
Terra Nullius means Empty Land. It was the legal justification for colonial governments for claiming and annexing "un-inhabited lands". Countries that were claimed using include Australia New Zealand parts of Canada, and Greenland. This legal framework created longstanding issues for indigenous populations who were considered "nullius"disappeared. Being a disappeared people meant that for the Australian Aborigines! Which had living in what the british claimed as empty for at least 50,000 years, they had no rights, no protections, and we're for legally controlled by the flora and fauna act. I.e. they were legally considered not as people but as wildlife akin to the koala, or the kangaroo. This was only recently changed in the 1960's .
I want to investigate this concept of empty land, So I have chosen examples of artists(mostly) who engage in finding a parallell existence that exists whether it is codified, systemised by humanity or not.
01. Australia

02. Birndiwirndi - Worlds apart

03. 24hr Panorama

04. Years

05. 1945-1998

06. Atom Man

07. Chernobyl wildlife

08. Wastelands

09. Camera Trap

10. Panopticon